Design Wall Monday, and Happy Birthday to My Blog

     Last summer, I went on a retreat, and was introduced to the jelly roll race. I was resistant to the idea at first, but I have to admit it was kind of fun, and while I was sewing those long seams together, I got some ideas on other things to do with this concept. As much as I love planning out my quilts, I also love playing with randomness, and just seeing how things hit. My first attempt was for a friend's daughter's graduation gift (which still needs to be quilted-add that to the need to do list). For more about this quilt, look at my August 21 post.

     Here is a second idea. I love the fabric designs of Kaffe Fassett, Phillip Jacobs, and others in the Westminster group. I also love Aboriginal prints. Sometimes, however, when I try to use these fabrics, I don't really get the effect I am looking for. I think this may be because there are so many colors and the prints are so dynamic, that I am not yet very good at predicting how they are going to look. I did not get enough contrast, and things blended into each other too much. There have been a couple of false starts this year, where I started something, and I just wasn't happy with it.

     I like doing the jelly roll thin with a thick and thin strip. In this case I paired the saturated Kaffe and aboriginal prints with a mod looking black and white, in a large, square spiral. I am planning to make this a lap size of around 4' x 6. This will be another small, simple,and quick quilt to add to my collection. Maybe someone will want me to teach this as a class somewhere.

     Today is a special day in the life of my blog. It is the 1 year anniversary of my very 1st blog post! I will give a free pattern to someone who comments on this blog post. I will give it till the end of the week. There is a link to my etsy shop on the right between my profile, and my blog list. Look carefully, it is kind of small. A goal for this year will be to find a way to make that more noticeable. You can check out my patterns on my etsy site, and let me know which one you would like to have, and I will mail it to you. I know there is a way to get those patterns listed on my blog, but I haven't figured that out yet either. Another goal for 2013!

     There are always tons of inspiration on Design Wall Monday at  http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/01/07/design-wall-monday-january-7-2013/     Go and check it out.

     Thanks for stopping by!